It's cold. But, hey, November's almost over! And that means regular updates again. I've been doing so well with my word count (ha, not really) that I thought I'd give a little treat to y'all. :)

Usual disclaimer applies. –HTIM

Hey there. Marissa here, again. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. Not my fault! Really! There's this thing called National Novel Writing Month and school that always get in the way. Why? No clue. There's also this thing called HeyThereIt'sMe (ha, ha. –htim) not posting it. Haha. Hope u enjoy! Actual action is to come!

Chapter Three

Aurora had traveled far and wide, searching for masters to help her with the elements. All the while, she secretly hoped Zuko would follow her, find her, take her back. But he never did.
She mastered waterbending at the Northern Water Tribe, firebending she practiced on her own, and earthbending was quickly learned during her stay in Omashu. All the while, wishing she was home. Home in the Fire Nation, full of assassins, murders, and thieves. But no matter what, she missed it.
As the years stretched on, she found herself not thinking about it as much. Instead, she thought about Zuko. Zuko, who never came. Zuko, who never understood. Zuko, who never cared. When she was sad, she would think of him and become angry. She never wanted to see his traitorous face again. Not in person, not in the wanted posters filling the city streets. Never again.

"You know what we're gonna do when this war is over?" Yuan asked.
Ta Min smiled. "Humor me."
The two were walking toward the Impenetrable City. Ba Sing Sei. Where they were hoping to work underground, fight, work at the war.
"We are gonna get married," he said very matter-of-factly. Before she could react, he continued. "We're gonna get married in the Northern Water Tribe. Then we'll honeymoon in Omashu."
As they walked, Yuan began to twist and dip her as if they were dancing, and Ta Min had to giggle. They had been friends for nearly three years now, and they were just beginning to move on beyond friendship. It was strange, unexplored territory for both of them, but Yuan was a natural.
Eventually he slipped his hands around her neck. She looked down to examine why, when she saw it. An engagement necklace, not unlike the ones from the Water Tribe.
It was woven of several thin, tough vines that had yellowed with age and a wooden pendant with the symbol of a full moon. The waterbending symbol. She was touched.
"You and your crazy ideas," she laughed, but the idea held promise. If the war ever ended, that is. Married in the Water Tribe... honeymooning in the Earth Kingdom... The thought was unheard of. Travelling the world so freely.
"And," Yuan added, "for the grand finale..." He dipped her and they froze, so that his lips were right by her ear. "We can go to the Fire Nation. Just the two of us." He then smiled as if this were the grandest idea in the world.
"Oh Yuan," Ta Min sighed, shaking her head. "You wouldn't like it there."
He set her back on her feet and they were walking again. "Oh?"
"No, not a bit. It's all city... Just a city of red and gold. No wilderness, no wide-open space, no freedom... Just paved streets and brick houses." This was true. But not the reason Ta Min never wanted to return home. No, she was too afraid of the memories, the thoughts that would come back there. Her hatred and love for her family, for the world she grew up in...
"Come on, Min," he laughed. "It can't be that bad."
"You've seen it," she pointed out.
"Oh, but that was years ago..." His eyes were wide with pleading.
"No. You've seen the people that come out of that place... It's no place you'd want to go for fun."
Yuan deliberated this for a moment, then finally gave up. "Fair enough. We can vacation at the Southern Water Tribe or something."
Ta Min wrinkled her nose, and Yuan laughed. The two walked for several more minutes- hours?- until they came to a small hill.
"Over this hill lays Ba Sing Sei. Are you ready, my dear Min?" Yuan asked.
Ta Min smiled and nodded. "Ready."
Without warning, Yuan covered her eyes and began to lead her up the hill slowly.
"I can't see," she pointed out.
"That's the point."
It was one step after the other. Part of her was afraid- what if they were ambushed and she couldn't see? What if she tripped and fell and was hurt? What if, what if...
There was a sharp gasp and Yuan's hands tore from her eyes. She blinked a few times, getting used to the light again, when she saw it.
Machines. She had never seen machines like this. Surrounding the huge famed wall of Ba Sing Sei.
They were breaking through.
"Ta Min."
She didn't register anything.
Ba Sing Sei?
Or Na Sing Sei?
"Min." Yuan's voice fit into this picture somewhere.
"We need to go... We need to go now.." She began to scramble away, slipping on dirt and attempting to run.
"Min!" Now he had her attention. "What are we here for?"
She had nearly forgotten. "To help with the war... But... The Fire Nation has taken Ba Sing Sei!"
He held out a hand to her. She grabbed it and used it to pull herself up. "We're here to help with the war. This is the war. Right here."
"No... Yuan, please..."
"Give me your swords."
"What?"
"You heard me."
Ta Min reached behind her. Her trusty swords... She spent more time with them than without them. She took them off and handed them to Yuan without a word.
"Don't... I mean..." She began to tear up. "You can't beat them. It's one against... a whole army."
He turned to look at them. "They have a weak spot. See," he pointed it out to her. "It's a seige- they're not letting anything in or out. So they wouldn't be trying to break through the walls, not yet at least. The blind spot right there, looks to me like a sewage drain."
"No... We could head back to your parents. Go back to Omashu, or something. It's not safe, right now..."
He pulled her in for a kiss, long and deep, before running off to execute his plan without another word.
Ta Min watched from the shadows as Yuan snuck around the armies. As he was caught- they were trying to break through the wall. As her swords found themselves in the greasy hands of a battalion. As he was killed by two laughing soldiers.
That night, she was sobbing into the folds of her dress. Her feet were swollen, her shoes had been taken off three or four miles away. She didn't know how far she had run, or how long. All she knew was that she had run so far that she had to stop and collapse.
She felt naked, weaponless, with nothing but a ratty old bag of hand-me-down clothes and Yuan's necklace.
Yuan. His murder brought on a new wave of tears. It was my fault, it was my fault, it was my fault...
A voice caught her ears. It was a singing voice... A tuneless melody.
"La la, de da, hm hm, hm hm," the voice sang happily.
Ta Min rose and reached behind her. Then she remembered what had happened to her precious swords.
A slender girl, maybe only ten or eleven, dressed in all pink, came cartwheeling out. She was the source of the singing.
Upon seeing Ta Min, eyes swollen with crying and feet swollen with running, the little girl immediately ran to her.
"Oh you poor thing!" she cried. "Look at you... You're so sad! Oh, even your aura is pale blue! What happened?"
Chatty little thing. Ta Min only picked up two or three words of the entire sentence. She shook her head, trying to indicate that she didn't understand.
"Do you have a place to stay for the night? Come with me, you can stay with me and my family. I have a big family, you know, but they're not my real family. Oh, no, I ran away from them a long time ago. But my new family, they're amazing. Say, what's your name? Where you from?"
"Ta Min. I'm from..." Where was she from? She didn't remember. It was a place... a place not many people liked... Right? But she liked the place... No, she didn't.
The girl studied Ta Min's facial features. "You must be from the Fire Nation! That's amazing, so am I! Do you know what part? What island? I'm from Brasa Island, though I doubt you've heard about it, and besides, I grew up near the Capital anyway."
The girl continued to prattle until she realized Ta Min wasn't listening.
"Where are my manners, I almost forgot. I'm Ty Lee."